Languages of Peru

Languages of Peru
Sign in Cuzco in Quechua and Spanish
OfficialSpanish (nationwide level)
Indigenous languages (in areas where they are common)
IndigenousQuechua, Aymara, languages of the Arawakan, Piro, Upper Amazon, Bora–Witoto, Cahuapanan, Jivaroan, Panoan, Quechuan, Tucanoan, Tupian and Zaparoan families
VernacularPeruvian Spanish, Andean Spanish, Amazonic Spanish, Peruvian Ribereño Spanish, Equatorial Spanish
MinorityFrench, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese
ForeignEnglish
SignedPeruvian Sign Language, Inmaculada Sign Language, Sivia Sign Language
Keyboard layout
No officially designated keyboard layout. Both the Latin American Spanish layout and the Spaniard Spanish layout are de facto in use side by side

Peru has many languages in use, with its official languages being Spanish, Quechua and Aymara. Spanish has been in the country since it began being taught in the time of José Pardo instead of the country's Native languages, especially the languages in the Andes.[1] In the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that in this multilingual country, about 50 very different and popular languages are spoken: which reduces to 44 languages if dialects are considered variants of the same language. The majority of these languages are Indigenous, but the most common language is Spanish, the main language that about 94.4% of the population speaks. Spanish is followed by the country's Indigenous languages, especially all types of Quechua (13.9% combined) and Aymara (1.7%),[2][3] who also have co-official status according to Article 48 of the Constitution of Peru,[4] as well as the languages of the Amazon and the Peruvian Sign Language. In urban areas of the country, especially the coastal region, most people are monolingual and only speak Spanish, while in many rural areas of the country, especially in the Amazon, multilingual populations are prevalent.

  1. ^ Alfredo Torrero Historia social del quechua Lima
  2. ^ "Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. p. 197.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Political Constitution of Peru" (PDF).